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The Walking Dead video game messed with me. Badly.

If you haven’t played The Walking Dead video gameyet, you’re missing out on one of the best video game stories in recent memory. The game follows the story of Lee Everett, a convicted murderer freed because of the onset of the Zombie Apocalypse. Over the course of the game, broken down into five chapters, Lee forms a group of survivors, beginning with a young girl named Clementine.

Despite Lee being the playable character of the game, I was more interested in the developing story about Clementine. Yes, her relationship with Lee is in a huge driving force of the story. However, the concept of gain and loss in Clementine’s character just floors me.

Spoilers below the jump.

Clementine lost her parents in the insanity of the zombie apocalypse. In the panic, Clementine rushed to her tree house to hide out. After Lee came across her house, the two formed a duo that drives the entire story.

In the end, Lee gets bitten, and the player can either choose to have Clementine shoot Lee or have Clementine let Lee turn. Either way, the game ends with Clementine once again alone.

The reason this story messes with me is that there is no happy conclusion. In most games, the player defeats the bad guy and rides off into the sunset. Even most zombie games have some kind of resolution. With The Walking Dead show,there is rarely a happy moment. The video game is no different.

Clementine is a very strong female character, but she is also a little girl. To see her alone at the end made me sad. It made me very sad.

If you haven’t played this game, I suggest you pick it up soon. The story keeps you engaged. While it is less of a game and more of a narrative, I still think it’s worth a purchase, if only for genius of the story-telling.